by Karl Nehring
To celebrate the 90th birthday of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, Deutsche Grammophon released the album For Arvo on September 11, 2025 (you can read our review of that album here). Exactly one year later, September 11, 2026, DG has released what they are terming an “extended version” of For Arvo, adding two tracks recorded at the Martha Argerich Festival in June 2025. As I pointed out in my review of the original CD release, most classical music lovers should be familiar with Pärt’s music, given that his compositions have been recorded by myriad performers on a variety of labels. For those of us of a certain age, though, Pärt was once a newcomer who suddenly appeared on the scene with music unlike anything we had ever heard before. I can still vividly recall the first time I heard his music. While I was in graduate school, I had a weekend job as a security guard for a manufacturer of computer support equipment. One of my late-night duties was to drive from my post at the main plant to check on the training center, which was a couple of miles or so away. On one of those late-night drives, I found that our classical FM radio station was playing engrossing music unlike any music I had never heard before. I was spellbound! I parked in the training center parking lot and listened to the end of the piece, eager to find out what this music could possibly be. It turned out to be the landmark ECM release Tabula Rasa, featuring the music of Arvo Pärt as played by the then-young violinist Gidon Kremer and – of all pianists – the jazz icon Keith Jarrett. I have been an avid Pärt fan ever since and have auditioned and owned many of his numerous compositions over the past several decades.
About a decade after my discovery of Pärt’s music, Georgijs Osokins was born into a family of pianists in the Latvian capital of Riga in 1995. Then in 2025, Osokins released his debut album on DG, For Arvo. “This album is a declaration of my deep love for Arvo and his music,” wrote Osokins in the liner notes of the CD. “It encompasses both completely unknown pieces, and some of the most-performed works of the last forty years. It Includes both original works and the art-form of piano transcriptions. I wanted to capture the very moment of the composer’s revelation – from complex contemporary avant-garde through to pure, luminous and enigmatic beauty and simplicity.” And that aptly describes what this release comprises; fortunately, the luminous and beautiful tracks outnumber the avant-garde. The opening tracks -- Für Alina, Variations for the Healing of Arinushka, Fratres, Ukuaru Waltz; Vier leichte Tanzstücke (“Four Easy Dance Pieces”), and Pari intervallo – are all relatively straightforward, easy on the ears, and the kind of music that most fans of Pärt have grown to appreciate. Especially noteworthy is Osokins’s transcription for piano of Fratres, which offer a fresh insight into this much-loved composition. The streaming version includes Mommy’ Kiss, a short but pleasant track that was not included on the CD. The two Sonatinas and the Partita are the works that lean more toward the avant-garde; however, although they are certainly not as easy on the ear as the other selections, neither are they the kind of dissonant, pounding piano works that the term “avant-garde” might scare one into fearing – in fact, they’re quite listenable. Sandwiched between the two Sonatinas is Für Anna Maria, brief but touching, and then after Partita comes the tender Lamentate, and the simple but expressive Hymn to a Great City. The first movement of Diagrams is frankly pounding and unpleasant, not at all typical of the style of the later Pärt, while the second movement, although still atypical, is at least easier on the ear. The second version of Für Alina is recorded more distantly, producing a haunting effect. Interestingly, time seems to be almost suspended, dreamlike, but the timing is the same as for the opening track. The beloved pianist Martha Argerich joins Osokins for a performance of Hymn to a Great City – her first public performance of Pårt’s music, and then the program closes as it began, with Osokins playing the deeply haunting Für Alina. Even for those who own the original CD, this new streaming release with its additional tracks is well worth seeking out.
I came across this release pretty much by accident late one evening on Amazon Music. I had been listening to this, that and the other when I noticed that the algorithm suggested this for me. I had no idea that Brahms had made a two-piano arrangement of my favorite of his symphonies. Hmmmm… I figured it would be worth a listen just to see what it would sound like. I didn’t expect to find it worth auditioning more than that one time; however, much to my surprise and delight, I found it to be a deeply satisfying recording, one that gave me an even greater appreciation for one of my favorite symphonies. We music lovers should be grateful that Brahms, who was himself a gifted pianist, decided to make his own transcriptions of his orchestral works rather than turn them over to staff arrangers at the publishing houses of his day. As you might expect, the arrangement captures the beauty and spirit of this remarkable symphony. The full palette provided by two keyboards allowed Brahms to paint a colorful pianistic portrait of his symphony, which the Hungarian/Swiss piano duo Adrienne Soós and Ivo Haag reproduce with artistry and affection. To those who hold the Brahms Third Symphony in high regard, I strongly suggest you give this two-piano version an audition.
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